Get Ready To Be Sassy: Second annual ‘Sass Fest’ is to feature art vendors, workshops at 106 Gallery

CourtesyThis is the 1966 Coachman travel trailer that Marlee Cook-Parrott is turning into a mobile Have Company handmade and vintage shop and artist residency. The project recently received a $5,000 grant from Start Garden.

The DIY spirit is alive and well in Grand Rapids, thanks in part to young community organizers such as Marlee Grace Cook-Parrott.

Committed to celebrating handmade and creative independence, Cook-Parrott, 24, of Grand Rapids, is hosting the second Sass Fest Nov. 17 at 106 Gallery on South Division Avenue.

A zine maker — zines are self-published works of original and/or appropriated texts and images — small business owner and performance artist with a BFA in dance from the University of Michigan, Cook-Parrott (known around town as “Marlee Grace”) threw last year’s inaugural Sass Fest on an impressive $25 budget and invited vendors to bring their wares and expertise to share with fellow vendors and attendees.

Cook-Parrott wanted to create a DIY event that engages and educates attendees while simultaneously celebrating the vendors of handmade items, zines and vintage goods.
She describes it like this: “It’s really about hanging out all day and just being excited to be alive.”

Whoa, time out. If you’ve ever been a vendor at an art show, you know one usually feels more exhausted than “excited to be alive.” At traditional shows, you might encounter disengaged vendors reading books or looking upset because a passerby just sneered at their price tag and loudly proclaimed: “I could make that.”

Art shows can be maddening. And while these negative experiences can be real joy squelchers, it sounds like Cook-Parrott is on to something. Sass Fest is going to feature vendors who will be coming to the event with a willingness to share their expertise with each other and the people who turn out to learn and shop. Perhaps all of us tired and stressed-out vendors have been going about this the wrong way.

“This is not hard,” Cook-Parrott said, adding “I have a degree in dance.”

Instead of using aggressive marketing strategies to herd as many customers as possible through the doors, Cook-Parrott designed Sass Fest to entice attendees to come and linger at the workshops and give vendors a chance to enjoy the event and attend each other’s workshops, too.

IF YOU GO

SASS FestWhat: Handmade goods festival celebrating the DIY spirit

When: : Noon to 7 p.m. Nov. 17

Where: 106 Gallery, 106 S. Division Ave., Grand Rapids

Cost: Free; all ages welcome

“To me, being sassy is about really taking charge of what you make and what you do and how you spend your time with intention,” she said.

So how did it go last year?

“It was great,” she said. “It was one of the greatest days I’ve ever had.”

And Cook-Parrott did not vend last year, so she’s not talking about monetary rewards.

While I’m a firm believer that we all deserve fair pay for our work, I also know from personal experience that when you contribute to the world in the way of creative energy and idea sharing — good things do come back to you. And while your giving and collaborative spirit won’t pay for your groceries, it will enrich your life.

This year, Cook-Parrott will be selling zines, vintage clothing and handmade goods at Sass Fest and has big plans to introduce West Michigan’s DIY community to her new mobile Have Company shop and artist residency. The City High grad bought a gutted 1966 Coachman travel trailer and just received a $5,000 grant from Start Garden to turn it into a cute vintage and handmade shop. Once complete, she plans to take it to art and craft fairs, music festivals and other events and use the space for artists to sell and create work.

“It will be at Sass Fest — whatever shape it’s in,” she said.

Cook-Parrott said she has committed to the Grand Rapids art scene out of necessity.
“If I’m going to stay in Grand Rapids for any period of time, it’s necessary,” she said about her community organizing. “I just feel like it’s my natural calling from the universe — not in a new age-y way.”

Sass Fest was born out of Cook-Parrott’s efforts to create an event that she wanted to be a part of.

It sounds like a lot of fun to me. So, to find out if it’s really possible to feel excited to be alive while vending at at DIY event, I signed up to participate in Sass Fest this year and hope to see you there. My daughters and I also will be teaching a free workshop on weaving bracelets out of recycled T-shirts. I hope you’ll stop by and swap ideas with us.

And be sure to high five Cook-Parrott while you’re at it. She’s making wonderful contributions to the local DIY community.

SCHEDULESass Fest workshop schedule
12:15 to 1 p.m.: Menstrual health workshop with Joelle: including a mini pocket zine
1 to 1:45 p.m.: DIY lifestyle discussion: Sprout Anarchist Collective
1:45 to 2:30 p.m.: Make your own T-shirt bangle bracelets with Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of CraftSanity.com
1:45 to 2:30 p.m.: How to make a zine with Marlee Grace
2:30 to 3:15 p.m.: How to book a house show: Ben Davey and friends
3:15 to 4 p.m.: Body image and self love with the Bandit Zine
4 to 4:45 p.m.: Sarah Sciba: print making
4:45 to 5:30 p.m.: Radical parenting discussion group — child care provided
5:30 to 6:15 p.m.: Engaged, involved and attending : a conversation about the state of the arts with Jenn Schaub
6:15 to 7 p.m.: Writing and journaling with Big Mama Schlomo
6:15 to 7 p.m.: DIY photo developing with John Hanson